Guiding means, especially in machines for delivering rivets



June 3; 1 941;" AMIOT 2,244,595 GUIDING MEANS, ESPECIALLY IN MACHINESFOR DELIVERING RIVETS 7 Filed Jan. 31, 1939 I 2 Sheets-Sheet l f FE],

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GUIDING MEANS, ESPECIALLY IN MACHINES FOR DELIVERING RIVETS Filed Jan.51, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 J! 51 60 -6 24 1 25 IL- 4/ \\\\I\ 2&- I 2 93:5

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Patented June 3, 1941 UNITED s'rar rinses Felix Amiot,Neuilly-sur-Seine, France Application January 31, 1939, SerialNat-53,926 In Luxemburg July 2, 1938 (C1. "id-49) 13 Claims.

The invention relates to means for the axial guiding, over a portion ofits path, of a part having along its axis a variable transverse sectionand which part receives a movement of translation, and concerns moreespecially but not exclusively such means, in machines for deliveringrivets, which cause each rivet to be guided at the moment it is about toenter the corresponding hole in the sheet 'metal or other assembly to beriveted.

In accordance with the principal feature of the invention, such axialguiding means comprise a plurality of guides which exert on the movingpart resiliently controlled actions to produce a centering effect alongthe axis of the said part. Moreover, the guides are preferably dividedinto at least two groups which act, substantially, in two differentplaces normal to the said axis.

A further feature of the invention consists in so constructing the axialguiding means for the parts (especially rivets) that they comprise meanswhich, while effectively guiding the rivets as above set forth, releasethem one by one to the holes for their reception.

A still further feature of the invention (especially in the case wherethe parts such as rivets are ejected one by one) consists in providingmeans for automatically and successively filling the said device by oneor more rivets and for causing the ejection. For example the device ismounted to reciprocate so as to align itself either with a loader or ahammer or other ejection-controlling member.

In addition to the above features the invention comprises furtherfeatures which will appear in the course of the description.

In order that the invention may be better understood, it will. now bedescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are givenby way of example only and in which- Figs. 1 and 2 show respectively inaxial section and in plan from below a rivet-delivering deviceconstructed according to the invention.

Fig. 3 shows, to a smaller scale, the assembly of the said device with aloader and an ejecting hammer, together with controlling means for thevarious devices, the whole being constructed according to the invention.

The system shown in the drawings is arranged to assure the delivery ofthe rivets one by one. These, as known, comprise an enlargement or headI, for example conical, and a shank Z of cylindrical or other form. Itfurther assures the guiding of these latter, so that the shank of eachment 5, preferably of circularinternal section, with a diameter suitedto that of the exterior face of the head of the rivets, the said elementhaving a height sufficient to contain several superposed rivets, and, onthe other hand, means to assure the guiding of at least the rivet aboutto be ejected, these means being for example arranged in the followingmanner.

They comprise a plurality of guides to exert, on the rivet considered,resiliently controlled acons tending to maintain this latter alignedaccording to the axis of the tubular element 5 and therefore if the saidelement is itself arranged so that its prolonged axis coincides withthat of the hole 3, the rivet comes accurately opposite the said hole.

The guides are shown in their preferred arrangement, that is dividedinto at least two groups arranged one above the other along theaforesaid axis, these two groups acting so that the shank of the rivetrests first in contact with both of the said groups, then that its headcomes to rest on the guides of the first group which it clears byseparating them under resilient control, after which it clears thesecond group in a similar manner, the rivet then being released.

It is understood that the various resilient actions cause a perfectguiding for accurate entry into the hole 3. This guiding is improved ifthe guides (for the actual guiding) comprise alone or preferably inaddition to the other actual guiding means, bevelled surfaces with aninclination corresponding to that of the conical head I.

The guides are formed, for example, with a species of pawl (5 6 whichpass through slits I in the tubular element 5 and preferably radiate.For the resilient control these pawls can be made resilient or subjectedto the action of springs, or both these means may be combined, or othermeans utilised.

On the drawings resilient pawis are shown which are engaged by theirbent extremities t inholes 9 disposed in the tubular element. They areretained in these holes by an exterior sleeve ill, the whole being heldin place by a tubular nut H.

In the drawings the pawls, to the number of six, are divided into twogroups, that is to say their active extremities I2 I2 are disposed threeby three at two different levels. These extremities I 2 I2 comprisebevelled edges l3 inclined for example at 45 similar to the conicity ofthe heads I. The said pawls are subjected in addition to an auxiliaryresilient action, produced by springs I4 Hi operatively connected to twosleeves I5 I5 which bear on heels I5 it com prised by the pawls.

The whole is completed, on the one hand, by means for filling theinternal channel of the element 5 with rivets, such as a loader ii, and,on

the other hand, by means for causing the ejection, comprising forexample, an ejecting hammer l8.

The operation of the system will be well understood from the foregoingwithout further description. It presents (in comparison with means ofthe kind in question already in existence) numerous advantages,especially that of assuring an absolute precision in the guiding of therivets and that of having a very simple construction.

Although the arrangements thus far described are sufllcient, it ispreferable also to adopt certain other arrangements such as thefollowing.

In one of these which utilises a distributing system as described above,such system is combined, on the one hand, with a loader and, on theother hand, with an ejecting hammer (or other similar member) so that,by appropriate reciprocating movements of these various members, it ispossible, automatically and successively, to effect the supply of rivetsto the tubular element 5 and also the ejection.

To this end, the loader H and the ejecting hammer l8 could be carriedfor example by a turret, so as to bring, by pivoting the said turret,one or the other of these members in alignment with the tubular elementwhich could be fixed.

It is advantageous, however, according to the arrangement represented onthe drawings, to cause the distributor to be carried by a movablecarriage, that is to say the assembly of the tubular element 5 and itsassociated members, and to actuate this carriage 59 by a reciprocatingmovement, so that the axis of the interior channel of the element 5comes successively in the prolongation of the axis of the loader or ofthat of the hammer.

i The distributor is surmounted by a plate 20 on which (during thestroke of the said distributor to bring it towards the hammer) can slidethe lower extremity of the rivet coming at the base of the loader (therivets in the loader being acted upon by gravity or by any other means).

It is of course advantageous to combine the control of the carriage H)with that of the hammer. l8, so that it is possible to actuate theassembly from the same driving member such as a piston Z! (operablepneumatically or hydraulically) which is displaceable in a cylinder 22and preferably subjected to the action of a return spring 23.

According to the embodiment shown on Fig. 3, the movement of the pistonrod 2 can be communicated to a rocking device 25. This comprises on theone hand an arm 25 in contact with a part 2'! of the carriage l9, underthe action of a spring Hand, on the other hand, a nose 29 adapted, inthe course of the movement of the rocking device in the direction 1, tocome into engagement with an abutment 30 of a lever 35 controlling themovements of the hammer I8.

The assembly operates as follows. On Fig; 3 the piston 2! is assumed tobe at its rest position for'which the arm 26 has brought the passage ofthe element 5 aligned with the loader H; a rivet has therefore falleninto the'said pas'sage', so as to fill the empty space at the top due tothe ejection of the last lowest rivet.

The fluid under pressure, being supplied through the conduit 32, raisesthe piston, which causes the rotation of the rocking device in thedirection 1; the carriage l9 moves back under the action of the spring28, then stops, owing to a stop 33, in a position for which the passageof element 5 is located in alignment above the hole or details ofconstruction described, as these may be varied to suit particular cases.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United Statesof America is: 1. Means of the kind described comprising a tubularguideway for the movable parts such as headed rivets, said guidewaybeing slotted in angularly spacedpositions towards its lower end,

a support for the guideway, an inlet to the said guideway, a magazinefed from above for supplying parts to the guideway through the saidinlet, a reciprocating hammer operative into and out of the inlet forfeeding the parts through the guideway, means for relatively moving thesup port for the guideway alternately to bring the said inlet alignedwith themagazine and the hammer, an outlet from the said guideway, aplurality of guiding members arranged towards the said-outlet,"supporting means for each guiding member so disposed that the guidingmembers are-adapted to project into the said guideway in groups, throughthe angularly spaced slots at the lower end of the guideway, each groupcoming in a different plane normal to the axis of the guide way, topermit each guiding member to come into the path of and contact with themovable parts during their passage through the guideway, andresilient'means for keeping the guiding members pressed inwardly tomaintain contact with the movable parts axially to centre the said partsprior to and at their emergence from the said outlet, the angularlyspaced guiding members adjacent the actual outlet comprising means foreffecting the release of theparts one by one from the guideway, uponoperation of said hammer.

2. Means of the kind described comprising a tubular guideway for themovable parts such as headedrivets, said guideway being slotted inangularly-spaced positions towards its lower end, a support for theguideway including a holdup plate, saidsuppOrt being mounted in aslideway forreciprocation, an inlet to the said guideway, a magazine fedfrom above for supplying parts to the guideway through the said inletand with an open lower end for the lowermost part in'the magazineto takesupport from the hold-up plate, a 'reciprocating hammer operative intoand out of the inlet for feeding the parts through the guideway, rockermechanism operatively associated with the support for the guidewayalternatelyto bring the said inlet thereof aligned with the' magazineand the hammer, means in association with the rocker mechanism foroperating the hammer whenaligned with the inlet, means for causing thetimed operation of the rocker mechanism, an outlet from said guideway, aplurality of guiding members arranged towards thesa'id outlet,supporting means for each guiding'member so disposed that'the guidingmembers' are adapted to'project'into'the said guideway in groups,through the angularly spaced slots at thelowe'r end of the guideway,each group coming in a 'differentplane normal to the axis of theguideway, to permit each guiding member tov come into the path of andcontact with the. movable parts during their passage through theguideway, and resilient means for keeping the guiding members pressedinwardly to maintain contact with the movable parts axially to centrethe said parts prior to and at their emergence from the said outlet, theangularly space guiding members adjacent the actual outlet comprisingmeans for effecting the release of the parts one by one from theguideway, upon operation of said hammer.

3. Means of the kind described, as claimed in claim 2, in which themeans for operating the rocker mechanism comprises a piston, piston rodand cylinder assembly operated by fluid pressure, substantially as setforth.

4. Means of the kind described, as claimed in claim 2, in which theguiding members are formed resilient in themselves and mounted inapertures in the tubular guideway, and in which additional resilience isimparted thereto by helical springs operating through sleeves on shapedheels of the guiding members, substantially as set forth.

5. Means of the kind described, as claimed in claim 2, in which theguiding members include inclined surfaces for co-operating withsimilarly inclined portions on the movable parts such as rivets withconical heads when passing through the guideway, substantially as setforth.

6. Means of the kind described comprising a guideway for the movableparts such as headed rivets, a support for the guideway, an inlet to thesaid guideway, an outlet from the said guideway, a plurality of guidingmembers arranged towards the said outlet, supporting means for eachguiding member so disposed that the guiding members are adapted toproject into the path of said movable parts in at least two groups, saidgroups lying in different planes normal to the axis of the guideway,said planes having an axial distance less than the axial length of themovable parts, and resilient means for keeping the guiding memberspressed inwardly to maintain contact with the movable parts axially tocenter the said parts prior to and at their emergence from the saidoutlet.

7. Means according to claim 6, in which the guiding members of eachgroup have angularly spaced positions around the axis of said guideway.

8. Means according to claim 6, in which the guiding members of eachgroup have angularly spaced positions around the axis of said guideway,the angular arrangement of the guiding members of the one group beingdifferent from the angular arrangement of the guiding members of theother group so that-there is only one guiding member of the one or theother group in each radial plane of the guideway.

9. Means of the kind described, comprising a uideway for feeding headedrivets, a support for the guideway, an inlet to the said guideway, anoutlet from the said guideway, a plurality of guiding members arrangedtowards the said outlet, supporting means for each guiding member sodisposed that the guiding members are adapted to project into the pathof said rivets in at least two groups, said groups lying in differentplanes normal to the axis of the guideway and haw'ng an axial distancesmaller than the length of the shank of each rivet, and resilient meansfor keeping the guiding members pressed inwardly to maintain contactwith the rivets to center said rivets :during their axial movementthrough said guideway prior to and at their emergence from the saidoutlet.

10. Means according to claim 9, in which the support for the guidewayand the supporting means for said guiding members are arranged in such amanner with respect to the part receiving the rivet that the one end ofthe rivet begins already its engagement with said part when the rivet isstill guided by said two groups of guiding members.

11. Means of the kind described comprising a guideway for the movableparts such as headed rivets, a support for the guideway, an inlet to thesaid guideway, an outlet from the said guideway, a plurality of guidingmembers arranged towards the said outlet, supporting means for eachguiding member so disposed that the guiding members are adapted toproject into the path of said movable parts in at least two groups, eachgroup being disposed in a different plane normal to the axis of theguideway, shaped heels on said guiding members, resilient means, asleeve connected to said resilient means and acting on said heels of theguiding members of said two groups, so as to keep the guiding memberspressed inwardly to maintain contact with the movable parts axially tocenter the said parts prior to and at their emergency from the saidoutlet.

12. Means of the kind described comprising a tubular guideway for themovable parts such as headed rivets, a support for the guideway, saidsupport being mounted in a slideway for reciprocation, an inlet to thesaid guideway, a magazine fed from above for supplying parts to theguideway through the said inlet, a reciprocating hammer operative intoand out of the inlet for feeding the parts through the guideway, rockermechanism operatively associated with the support for the guidewayalternately to bring the said inlet thereof aligned with the magazineand the hammer, means in association with the rocker mechanism foroperating the hammer when aligned with the inlet, an outlet from thesaid guideway, a plurality of guiding members arranged towards the saidoutlet, and resilient means for keeping the guiding members pressedinwardly to maintain contact with the movable parts axially to centerthe said parts prior to and at their emergence from the said outlet.

13. Means of, the kind described comprising a guideway for the movableparts such as headed rivets, a support for the guideway, an inlet to thesaid guideway, an outlet from the said guideway, a plurality of guidingmembers arranged towards the said outlet, supporting means for eachguide member so disposed that the guiding members are adapted to projectinto the path of said movable parts in angularly spaced positions, saidguiding members and supporting means being at least partially resilientin themselves, spring means cooperating with the elasticity of saidguiding members and supporting means for keeping the guiding memberspressed inwardly to maintain contact with the movable parts axially tocenter the said parts prior to and at their emergence from the saidoutlet, a sleeve connected to said spring means, and shaped heels onsaid guiding members and acted upon by said sleeve.

FELIX AMIO'I.

